Main » S Korea president says 'high possibility' of conflict with North

S Korea president says 'high possibility' of conflict with North

20 May 2017

The comment, laid out by North's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and reported Thursday on the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), was North Korea's first judgement of South Korea's new president, who took office on May 10.

The claim is being made at a time when speculation is rising over the goal of CIA Director Mike Pompeo's recent visit to Seoul, where he may have met with a high-level defector, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

"The rolling back of the hostile policy toward DPRK is the prerequisite for solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula", he said.

Kim said the North would not abide by United Nations resolutions, which "lost their legitimacy, legality and impartiality", until the global community recognizes its right to "self-defensive measures" and the USA ends its "provocative maneuvers".

Kim singled out as "more serious" the push by the USA for a new sanctions resolution and the Trump administration's demand for all countries "to decide whether they support for DPRK or U.S".

North Korea has said it carried out a successful test of a new ballistic missile on May 14.

The ambassador praised the latest successful North Korean missile launch, stating that the country would not give in to U.S. pressure.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned on Friday that military solution to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear issue would be "tragic on an unbelievable scale".

The United States said Tuesday it believed it could persuade China to impose new U.N. sanctions on North Korea and warned that Washington would also target and "call out" countries supporting Pyongyang.

Last month United States president Donald Trump warned a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible as he revealed he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong-un.

Speaking to reporters ahead of a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also made clear that Washington would only talk to North Korea once it halted its nuclear program.

Lee Eu-gene, vice spokeswoman at South Korea's Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korea relations, warned North Korea on Friday in a regular briefing to cooperate with efforts by the South and the worldwide society to denuclearize the peninsula.

As well as the THAAD system, the U.S. has 28,500 troops station in South Korea to counter threats from Pyongyang. She urged other countries to sever ties with Pyongyang.